Great Deal on Street Navigation!

[Ironflight]

Ever since I bought my 396, I have meant to add a street navigation capability by purchasing the Mapsource Street Navigation package and a memory stick. I've had a post-it note on my desk for months reminding me that the two would cost about $250 if I settled for a 512 Meg card which would hold about half of the U.S.

The other day, I walked into our local Fry's, and there in the front of the store, along with their other outrageous deals, they had a cart full of Garmin Streetmap c320's....a street GPS bundled with a Mapsource disk - version 8, the latest - for $199.00!! (Yes, it is listed as discontinued on the Garmin web site, but they still sell the 310 and the 330....how bad can this be?!) It didn't take me long to realize a great deal, so I picked one up before they were gone. The unit came with a 128 Meg SD card, which I quickly learned would hold about five states worth of maps. I went back to Fry's and picked up a "2 pack" of 2 Gig SD cards for $32.99, and just now finished loading the entire North American database (which took just ever so slightly more than 1 Gig of space.)

Bottom line? I think I'll leave my 396 in the airplane, and use this little devil for driving around. Prices are dropping so fast on consumer-level GPS's as to make them almost disposable. The coolest thing? Each Mapsource CD comes with an Unlock code (Garmin is very serious about single-user registration and piracy). I had to call Garmin for help with a setup issue, and I asked if it was possible to load the database into my 396 as well. "Sure, but you'll need an additional unlock code" I was told...."Fortunately, we allow you to get an extra code for free, just in case you have two of our units!" So maybe the 396 will get some street maps anyway...for those flying trips where I find myself renting a car, and trying to find my way through a strange city.....

I can't say if you'll find this good a deal yourself, but most of the big stores are copycats - I'm guessing the price drops will continue....

Paul

[Rick_A]

I picked up a 496 at SnF which came with Map Source City Navigator. I just loaded it on my PC yesterday and started checking into the Garmin data cards which are very pricy (list $139 for 256 MB).

Will the SD cards work in a 496 also?

[Ironflight]

Originally Posted by Rick_A

Will the SD cards work in a 496 also?

To the best of my knowledge...no. At least my 396 uses a special proprietary memory from Garmin. I'm sure that buried inside is the same chip as an SD, but Garmin is smart....

Paul